During your time on the Law Review, you will sharpen your legal writing, research, and Bluebook citation skills. As a junior staff member, you are eligible to receive two academic credits for your work. You will also write a Comment, an extensive writing and research project on a legal topic of your choice, through which you may satisfy WCL's upper level writing requirement.

Membership on the Law Review can be instrumental in your job search; many employers recognize that Law Review experience is a sign of a student who is detail-oriented and has developed critical analytical skills. Law Review alums have gone on to clerk for federal judges at the district and appellate level and have become successful lawyers at prominent law firms, businesses, and government agencies.

The Law Review also offers an opportunity for camaraderie with other students. We plan various social events throughout the year. You may use the Law Review office to do school work, relax, and hang out. Also, you have access to the Law Review's outline databank—our collection of final-exam outlines compiled by Law Review members over the years.

What will be my responsibilities as a junior staff member?

The three main responsibilities for junior staff members are: (1) completing spading (cite-checking/editing) assignments, (2) writing a Comment, and (3) fulfilling regular office hours, where you may be asked to perform short administrative, research, or editing tasks. Additional responsibilities include attending staff meetings, attending symposia, and assisting in the write-on selection process. You will get much more detail on each of these during your orientation.

AULR gets ready for its annual bake-off!

What is a Comment?

A Comment is an academic paper that discusses and analyzes a legal issue in depth. The Law Review is the only journal at WCL that accepts Comments about any legal topic, provided the topic contributes something new to legal scholarship. You will be assigned to a Note & Comment Editor, who will guide you throughout the writing process. At the end of the writing process, the Note & Comment Board selects some Comments for publication. While Comments are discussed in more detail at orientation, we encourage you to begin thinking about topics that interest you after you have been selected for membership.

What is a Note?

After completing your Comment, you are eligible (although not required) to write a Case Note, which describes the procedural history, disposition, and holding of a recent case and analyzes the case's effect on the law. Notes are considerably shorter than Comments, with a maximum limit of twenty-five pages. In selecting authors to write Notes, the Law Review generally gives preference to those students whose Comments were not selected for publication.

What are spading assignments?

Spading, also known as cite-checking, is where junior and senior staffers—usually in teams of four or five—proofread an author's piece for grammar, spelling, spacing, and adherence to the Bluebook. You will probably be assigned to two or three spadings per year. We discuss spadings in greater detail during orientation for new members.

What is the editorial board?

The Senior Editorial Board consists of:

Staff members celebrating the end of the year at banquet.

Editor-in-Chief

Executive Editor

Managing Editor

Senior Articles Editor

Senior Note and Comment Editor

Senior Symposium Editor

Senior Federal Circuit Editor

Associate Managing Editor

Associate Articles Editor

Associate Symposium Editor

The Editorial Board consists of the Senior Board, the Articles Editors, and the Note and Comment Editors. All editors are 3Ls and 4Ls, who are elected by the previous Board. Most senior editors have offices in the Law Review suite, and we keep an open door policy, meaning that we encourage you to come by our offices at any time. You will have the opportunity to meet the whole Board during orientation.